REGINA – Rebecca Clark volunteers her time at the North Central Family Centre.
It’s one way to spend less time at her rental home.
“The foundation is cracking, which causes the mice to come in,” the mother of four told Global News. “It’s so old, there’s no heat. It’s really cold throughout the winter.”
It’s a common theme in older, low-income neighbourhoods. The reason affordable housing is often affordable is because it’s in rough shape.
Liberal housing critic and MP for Trinity-Spadina, Adam Vaughan, stopped in Regina to share the party’s plans to re-establish a national housing policy. It begins in part with a facelift.
“There’s a need to find a way to rehabilitate houses that occupy neighbourhoods like the one we’re in right now, so revitalizing that housing,” Vaughan said.
Poor housing leads to skyrocketing costs for social programs and health care, Vaughan told reporters.
It’s tough on families too.
“A necessity (for) growing up is safe and secure housing,” said Susanna Walker, director of programs at the North Central Family Centre. “It doesn’t have an easy, short-term fix.”
Walker helps connect up to ten families with a place to live every month. She said too many of those solutions are only temporary.
Long-term, the goal is to work with landlords to improve what’s available and ultimately reduce the cost of housing.
What does that mean to the clients she serves?
“It would make a huge difference,” Clark said. “I would be able to (afford) to go swimming with my kids.”
Canada is the only G8 country without a national housing strategy. It was removed by the Liberal government in 1993.
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